2009 Summer Update

After not being able to go in March and having only 10 people agree to go in June, I am happy to report that our last trip was better than any before. God showed up in a special way. We did not have a dental team and we all went in the Church van. We had complete unity. We did everything together. We traveled in daylight hours, we all ate together, we prayed together and we all ministered together. The Lord blessed our unity with His presence and a special anointing. Our first stop was a home for abused women and we did medical treatment on 40 people there. The Lord filled one lady such that when she went outside, others near her were filled with the Spirit. What an amazing thing to see. Many were delivered from deep wounds and bandages. The second day was at a small church and we saw another 40 people there. Our border crossings both ways were very smooth without the expected inspections. I believe that from now on we should limit the team to whoever can fit in the church bus only. 15 people max. We should only leave on Thursday mornings and stay together. Unity is what made this trip the best and multiple cars and disconnected teams will not achieve what happened with us this last trip. I hope the Lord draws you to our September trip and watch for the video!

2009

New Dates for 2008 and Report on November trip

Thank you to all the new folks that came with us. You were really a blessing and we hope you all can join us in the fun next year. We arrived in Agua Caliente in two groups this time. Dr Gasperian and his buddy Dr. "Ira" joined us in San Diego on the way. Those guys really know how to work over a mouth full of teeth and after 50 or so patients on Friday they still had the energy to play games with us in the evening. The medical clinic was also very busy. Most of our clients this time were Oaxaca Indians and many of them did not speak Spanish. With over 160 Oaxaca dialects it can be a real challenge to communicate. Loretta gave her shoes to a shoe less woman with gangrene. Many folks were helped with common ailments like allergic reactions, worms, parasites and infections. Some had some very disheartening and more serious troubles and it is always these that my heart goes out to. The second day was a little closer to Maneadero and that made it easier to communicate in Spanish. Rigo and Kim just came back from a trip to Korea and they had an opportunity to reconnect with the folks in Durango. The border on the way back was tougher than usual and I think that is going to be even tougher yet in the future. Kind of like Vu da Je - I think I will be here again.

Ok so now the dates ... Oh wait - some quick rants!
Trash bags - good for trash not for luggage - please - get a canvas bag at a surplus store or use some other more durable bag for your bedding and what not.
Toys - stuffed animals. A few is fine - we are not about exporting materialism so they are good for crying children but we don't need to compete with St Nick. Less is more.
Clothes - If you don't want to wear them, neither will most of the folks in Mexico. We are also not competing with Mervyns. Keep it to 1 square foot or less and nothing you wouldn't wear. Or better yet, send them via UPS to Pastor Rigo who knows where the real needs are and can put them in the best hands. We just don't have room for hand-me-downs.

I will post photos when they are developed. Yep. film, it is the new digital. You may reply to this post with Mexico photos if you like.

Ok, now the dates:

February 5-10
May 8-11
September 4-7
November 13-16

If you want to join us - frank@hovie.net
We have meetings before the trip - read the pdf manual on the right of this page.
We are asking $50 ea. It is a loss for us at this price but we never want money to be a deal breaker, if you know God wants you to be there, come on down ...

2007 - The Straight Story

Greetings all:

New dates for 2007:

Trip 1:
March 22 - March 25

Trip 2:
July 5 - July 8

Trip 3
November 1 - November 4

Only 3 you ask? yep. We can not plan them and then not go. We need a good turn out for these 3 - so get them on your calendars and talk to everyone else that may be interested and get commitments. It is not too late to make a new years resolution to be on ALL the trips - budget now! Get your passports.


New costs: it will now cost us $10 per night per person. This will have some impact on our per trip fees. I am considering $50 per person. At least this will cover lodging and a little food. It is still less than the trip cost and hopefuly will not make it too hard for anyone to go. feedback?


New Visions and dreams: Jehovah Raffa is now 6 years old - we have been seeing them for their whole term. We need to keep this work in our prayers. The enemy knows they are there and they are getting tried by fire. It means a lot to them that we care for them. El Shaddai has a new pastor. Antoonio is no longer pastoring - he does have a home Bible study. Luis and Veronica are the new district supervisors. This is a real blessing - they are kind, humble and loving leaders that have the guts at stamina for this ministry.

The Mexico ministry:
It is something of God's heart
It is always an adventure
It is blessed by God
It is touching people in need
It is clothing the naked
It is feeding the hungry
It is a cool sip of water to the thirsty
It is a violent intrusion
It is a visit from the Prince of Peace
It is feared by the Prince of the Power of the Air
It builds leaders
It builds servants
It builds churches
It edifies the body
It blesses those attending
It rewards those partnering
It costs so little
The rewards are so great
It is connecting
It enlarges our world
It makes the world smaller
It is inconvenient beyond measure
Yet we only need to show up
It is the subject of fasting
The food is so good
It is a serious task
The fun and games are memories for a life time
It connects us all
Though we are separated by nations, culture, language and economics
Our words are different
Yet we speak the same language
Our troubles are different
Yet our struggles are the same
We all have an important special part
All our parts have the same importance
The Mexico trips are an act of Worship that says more than feed me, entertain me, teach me.
They are what it is to be the Body of Christ

PASSPORTS!!

The following is an exerpt from the border patrol web page on todays date.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/
http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/publications/travel/knowbeforeyougo.ctt/knowbeforeyougo.pdf
I rocommend you download their document and read it. There is a lot of confusion. We were told this trip that Passports would be needed past November this year. Apparently that is for air and sea but we are being told at the border to get them. This is a good idea and now is a good time to go get them!!


DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY TO THE UNITED STATES
Travel from within the Western Hemisphere (North, Central or South America, Caribbean
and Bermuda)
U.S. citizens:
• Are currently exempt from passport requirements. However, it is highly recommended
that a U.S. Citizen be prepared to present documentation such as valid or expired U.S.
passport, U.S. birth certificate, or Naturalization certificate to avoid delays.
Important Note: The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will soon require all travelers to
and from the Americas, the Caribbean, and Bermuda to have a passport or other accepted form
of documentation to enter or reenter the United States. The program will be rolled out in phases.
The proposed timeline is as follows:
• December 31, 2006: Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada,
Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
• December 31, 2007: Requirement extended to all air, sea and land border crossings.
For more information, please visit the State Department travel website at www.travel.state.gov or
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website at www.dhs.gov. To apply for a passport,
U.S. citizens can visit www.travel.state.gov or call the U.S. Passport Office at 1-877-4USA-PPT
or TDD/TYY: 1-888-874-7793. Foreign nationals should contact their respective governments to
obtain passports.

Communication - email!!

There are two best ways for all of us to stay informed:

This BLOG - you can all post replies

E-MAIL - you need to keep me updated - If I have your e-mail address - I will send you updates.

Construction Project - Storage next to Jehovah Raffa

While we were in Mexico, we funded the bulk of a storage building to be built by Rigo on his property next to Jehovah Raffa Church in Durango.
Bruce and I and several others intend to return to Durango on or about July 7-10 or so. The funds dispursed so far will likely cover most of the costs, we are however expecting to need a few hundred more for the cost of the foundation.
We would like to invite anyone else that would like to contribute to this effort either materially or with labor to get in touch with Loretta or me.
We have not secured a place to stay, we might see how many wish to go and get with George and see if the small house is available. If not and it is a small team, there are other alternatives ranging from stay in in the church to the small missiions house in downtown that Connie Pierson let us stay in once.
We will need to cinch the dates with Rigo and get a list of those interested as soon as possible. Matilde, can you get with Rigo and confirm the dates?? Sue, could we get this put in the buletin when the dates are confirmed. All materials will be procured by Rigo locally. We will be able to transfer all our stuff from El Shaddai to this building when we have it complete. Bruce and Rigo worked out the construction details. Bruce is the go-to person on the construction end of this project.

May 2006 What a trip

This has been both our most challenging and rewarding trip ever. The enemy did everything to keep us from getting there, from closing the border to reducing the size of our team. Yet we saw 15 people come to the Lord. We will be building a shed on Rigo's lot next to the Jehovah Raffa Church in July to store our supplies in. We found a source for cheap dental supplies in Encinada and we served many people with medical and dental care. We went to the street church pastored by Martha and saw many get filled with the Spirit. I look forward to seeing what the Lord will do with us on the September trip.

2006 Dates!!

Greetings all! The November trip was great - but now we need to get ready for 2006. Put these dates on your calendar:
March 2-5
May 18-21
September 7-10
November 30-December 3

A few of us are leaving Jan 6th to give Kim and Rigo a freshly repaired church van. Kim will use it to bus kids to school. Where they will learn things of eternal benefit as well as how to break the cycle of poverty.

I will post more details of our upcoming trip soon.

September Trip Done - November to Go

God was good to us on the September trip! Seven people came to the Lord. We fixed a lot of teeth and offered care to a lot of people. This happens when we pray. I would like to make a special mention of one lady on our team that makes a huge impact on our ministry.

Carmen has only been with us a few trips and she has taken ownership of praying for people. She is truely a holy warrier and her faithfulness in prayer is allowing the Spirit of God to move mightily in our midst. She is an example to us all. Thank you for all the hard work everyone has done! There were crafts for the kids and a wonderful puppet show. It seems each trip, we get better fine tuned to what God wants for us on these trips.

In November we will be going to a church in the north east of Encinada for Friday. We were at this Church in March. Our last trip there saw 7 people come to the Lord and now from that five new families are going to that church. On Saturday - we will be at the school in the valley below Durango. The Castillo. There will be a lot of youngsters and local Indian folks to care for there. Kim is now the principle adminstrator and teacher there. She has seen God's call on her to be very involved there.

Things we can do better: - I must admit this trip went really well considering the challenge we had with medical staff. I would like to make a note on packing. I believe we could do a little better on taking less with us as far as personal luggage. Just something to think about. A lot of people were on their first journey with us and so there is always the learning curve there.

There is a complete set of photos on my website http://www.hovation.com - look for the link called Mexico September 2005 - I look forward to seeing all of you again at our pre trip meetings. I will post those dates here soon.

May 2005 Trip - Meetings and News

Thursday, May 12, 13, 14, 15

Planning meetings: April 24 and May 8 during third Service at Quartz Hill Foursquare Church. 11:00 am

This trip will be to a new Foursquare Church in Encenada for Friday - Medical Clinic and to Durango - Jehovah Raffa on Saturday for Medical and Dental. I expect the same conditions as the last trip for facilities; prepare for less than ideal environs for the Friday clinic.

The March trip was very good - God blessed us with very few challenges and we were able to bless a lot of people.

Thoughts and Rants for this upcoming trip:
All of us wear lots of hats on these trips. That is good news! Crosstraining is desired and important. Each trip has a different mix of skills and we need to be able to fill in to see that each task is acheived. There is a downside to this however. The are I can see that we can improve on is FOCUS.

FOCUS is a challenge in the environment we work in. There are lots of distractions, there are many socializing opportunities and we often relax from the task at hand. Yes - we are volunteers. I know I can do my function with greater dilligence. The important thing is that we learn to stay on task to do this ministry as unto the Lord. The most vulnurable tasks are those that are not constant. Triage tends to fall apart when the big inrush is gone. Triage is a servant of the medical effort and needs to be ready to assist and be vigilant to see what other related tasks need to be done while not letting triage tasks fall through the cracks. We do well - we can do better. The other area that can be improved is the Prayer ministry. It is the least defined and least obvious tasks. I see where a lot of opportunities to pray for people were passed by. Especially those that are waiting and those that just finished seeing the doctor. We also need to be sure we are including members of the local church in the prayer ministry - they will be left behind to follow up. We do well but we can do better.

The next trip MAY be without dentists - there is a convention that is taking most of them away - Luisa may be able to get us one that is not comitted to that.

Kind words. Our ministry is as much of Christ in us as it is in word or deed. We all serve eachother and need to be sensitive to eachother. Here are some examples:
Deadlines - when a care giver needs to pull up stakes - make that possible for them and be understanding of the importance of it to them.
How do we serve these people in Mexico if we do not serve eachother. We must practice self sacrifice in the team as Christ leads us. Kind words may be the only gospel they see. Lets not blow this one!

I am proud to be counted among this fine group and am honored to serve with all of you. I am looking forward to a great trip in May and invite all of you to fast and pray that we will perform God's will and that He will make our efforts fruitful.

Second Meeting to prepare for March Trip

Sunday March 13th at 11:00 AM at Quartz Hill Foursquare Church

We will meet to confirm those that can go on this trip and collect money and materials. We will also review our destination and needs. Please show up and bring your questions - Thanks

March 17, 18, 19, 20 2005 Trip

Castillo
On March 17, we will leave the Church at 5PM and drive to Agua Caliente where we will stay for the evening. We expect to arrive at about midnight. We will go to a home church on Friday morning for a Medical clinic. The church is locatied in Vieres Colonia and the lady who is our contact is named Viky. She is a friend of Kim and Rigo Martinez and the location is in Encinada. We will need to stop by the El Shaddai church to pick up items on our way. Kim and/or Rigo will meet us at the house and guide us there and will ensure that they are ready for us. On Saturday we will set up the Medical and Dental Clinic at a Colonia in the Durango Vally very near the Durango Church. It is in a place called Sabodo and it is a new Christian School. We expect most of the patients to be children there. We will be able to bring folks for Connie's Church, Rigo's Church and Antonio's church for medical and dental care that day. Sign up now! Who is going? What do we need?

Teamwork

My ideal scenario
With the huge success of the last trip, I am thinking of what would be nicer. I know that everyone does the best they can and under the circumstances and we sometimes have to settle for less than perfect but I know that teamwork is increased with time spent together and with the willingnes to sacrifice personal agendas for the good of the group. Such as - transportation - It would be nice if we all were in the same vehicle. We might board as strangers and leave as brothers because of the time spent together. All kinds of good things happen when we get to share and learn from eachother. But we don't have that option at this time. The next best thing we can do is be willing to stay together as a group for the most time. On a missions trip we frequently get to stop and smell the roses. But not necessarily every time. Some must drive up at different times due to work, it would be nice if they could come back with us as a team. This would at least allow our stops home a opportunity to bond as a team and not just a bunch of people that show up. Going to meetings also seals us together. It gives us an opportunity to share in the planning and the creativity of what is happening. If at all possible - I strongly urge everyone going to be willing to sacrifice personal gratuities for the sake of keeping us all together and operating as a team!

Future Trips 2005

Trips posted for 2005

A) March 17th - 20th 2005
B) May 12th - 15th 2005
C) September 15th - 18th 2005
D) November 10th - 13th 2005

Please post now and let us know you can come - Also George and Jerri - please confirm again these are the dates we can do - Also give this info to David - Tanks